Nothing Without You
by XHitsuKarinX316X
Summary: Karin hasn't seen Toshiro Hitsugaya for three years. She understands that he was fighting in the winter war, but that doesn't mean she can't be angry with him. Will she be prepared for what he has to say to her after three years in his absence?
1. Chapter 1

_**Nothing without You**_

_**I do not own bleach**_

_**Please review! It's an experimental while I'm pending my other fanfiction. Thanks for reading! (By the way, I REALLY need an idea for the plot of the story, it would really help if you guys could give me a few ideas.) and like I said, it's an experimental, so this is just a little something I decided to try out. Thanx for reading! **_

_**-XHitsuKarinX316X**_

**I sat at the table working an algebra problem with Yuzu.**

"**Okay, four X and seven is…?" Yuzu pointed to the four and down the long line of numbers and variables with the tip of her impeccably sharpened pencil. I ran the numbers through my head. I was never good at math, but Yuzu was almost three grades ahead in math. I didn't know how she did it. She was almost a grade ahead in practically every class otherwise, so usually, I just ask her the questions and she gives me the answers.**

"**Thirty-five?" Yuzu sighed. **

"**No Karin," she dropped the pencil onto the paper, leaving a small dash mark on the zero making it look like a six. "It was forty-seven." She stood up and murmured something under her breath.**

"**What was that?"**

"**Nothing." She returned to washing the dishes. "just try your best Karin, okay?" I nodded and returned to the problem before me. **_**Damn algebra, solve your own problems.**_** I thought to myself. **

**I stared down at the math problem like it was a foreign language. "**_**Yuzu!**_**" I whined. I stared at her until her eyes met mine.**

"**Pleeeaaseee?" I begged.**

"**no,"**

"**Pleeeeaaaaseee?" I pushed. **

"**Fine!" she cried. "The answer is seventy-seven and five tenths!" I smiled in satisfactory as I wrote down the answer. I had never been one to cheat, but when it came to math, the "no cheating" rule didn't apply. My cellphone began to ring in my pocket, startling me and making me draw one long, jagged line across my paper.**

"**Damn it!" I cried, reaching into my pocket. I looked at the caller ID and it read **_elementary kid_. **"What does he want? I haven't heard from him in almost three years." Yuzu looked up at me from the dishes.**

"**Who?" **

"**Elementary kid." I pronounced loud enough for Yuzu to hear.**

"_**Him?**_** We haven't heard from him in almost three years!" She held a metal spoon to her chest dramatically.**

"**Don't Yuzu, you're getting a water stain on the front of your shirt." I opened the phone. "hello?" Toshiro's voice came loud and clear through the phone.**

"**Kurosaki," **_**still calling his friends by their last names, I see.**_** "Meet me in the park."**

"**Okay, but where's my hello, or my '**_**hi Karin, how are you after not checking in with you for three straight years?' "**_** I said coldly. "why do I have to go to the park with **_**you?**_**" I admit, I was pretty angry at him for ignoring me for three straight years. But I had to understand that he was fighting the winter war, but he could have at least sent a letter or **_**something.**_

**I could practically hear him wince over the phone. "sorry, I just thought that after all this time that we could, you know, catch up on stuff." His voice was full of emotion that I couldn't read.**

"**Fine, I'll meet you there in five." I said, closing the phone before he could say anything else. "Yuzu, I'm leaving to see Toshiro at the park. I'll call you before I get home."**

**Yuzu nodded and returned to the dishes. "Okay, but don't be gone too long, I don't want you missing dinner like Ichi-nii does." I smiled and pushed the chair in. **

"**Fine Yuzu, I'll be home by six-thirty." I said, shuffling through a pile of clothing and pulling out a pair of mismatching socks. I tugged them on and walked out of the kitchen and stopped at the front door. I pulled my hair back so half of it was down, and half of it was up. I checked my appearance. I didn't want old man Toshiro thinking that I'd turned into a total slob over the three years he had been gone. **

**I fussed over a blue hoodie that I had pulled on over my plain black t-shirt and stuffed the pockets into my denim skinny jeans. I pulled on a pair of old tennis shoes and then opened the door to leave. **

"**Who are you going to see?" came a voice behind me.**

"**Why are you asking, Ichigo?"**

"**because, I've never seen you fuss so much over yourself in front of the mirror before." Ichigo said, nodding his head towards the mirror.**

"**Whatever. I'm going to see Toshiro at the park, I'll be home by six-thirty." I said, slamming the door behind me in haste. I walked down the road and pondered on what I was going to say to Toshiro when I saw him. I could say,**_** "hey, I'm pissed at you for leaving me for so long." **_**Or something like, **_**"I missed you, why didn't you call or something?" **_**both of these ideas sucked, and I knew it. I felt butterflies pulsating inside of my stomach. I don't think that I had ever felt so jittery in my life. **

"**It's fine Karin, you're best friends, remember?" I tried to reassure myself, but the pep talk wasn't working. I picked up my pace. I have been longer than five minutes, and I had to hurry before Toshiro assumed that I ditched. **

**When I reached the park, I started searching for the familiar white hair and the usual skinny jeans and polo shirt. I shielded my eyes from the sun and glanced around. I spotted him where we usually met when we were kids. I took a deep breath and made my way down the hill and to the spot where Toshiro Hitsugaya waited. **

**Okay everyone, I know I'm already writing another fanfiction at the moment, but this one just had to be put down on paper! **

**I'll be adding the next chapter in three days! Reviews are welcome, constructive criticism is also welcome! Thanx guyz! **

** -XHitsuKarinX316X **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**I do not own bleach!**

**Yeah, I said that this was going to be an experimental, but I finally got a good plot/storyline. I thought of it while I was doing the summary… XD**

**Well, happy reading everyone, and Please do review!**

**By the way, sorry this chapter is so long. Plus, being experimental and all, I just wanted to warn you that there might be some minor and major changes by the end of the story! Thank you for reading!**

**P.P.S. (I changed everything from Bold to normal, sorry about that, I just wasn't thinking and posted it before I changed it back to normal. I was just trialing with it. XD)**

** -XHitsuKarinX316X**

When I had finally reached the pavement, there was another grassy slope awaiting me. The slopes were slippery thanks to the sprinkler system that went off every two hours after the soccer team practiced. Seeing that I would probably slip before I got to the end, I sighed inwardly and began to make my way down the slick incline. Toshiro must have spotted me because as I looked down, watching my every step, I got the feeling that someone was watching me. I looked up at him just enough to lose my footing and fall head-first towards the rapidly approaching ground. When I thought that my next move would be peeling my face out of the mud, strong, steady hands were there to catch me.

"Whoa," The steady hands lifted me up and stood me upright. "You know kid, that was a close o-" As I looked up, Toshiro caught my eye.

Toshiro's POV:

It had been almost fifteen minutes, and I was getting worried Karin wasn't going to show up. She was never one to back out of a challenge, and considering how long I had been gone, I would consider this a challenge too. Suddenly getting a call from a friend that hasn't talked to you in almost three years and them saying 'hey, let's go to the park so we can talk about our feelings!' would be considered a bit hard. I didn't know if she would be mad at me, happy to see me, sad that I hadn't contacted her sooner, or just all of the above.

I sat on the blue railing that we used to sit on as kids and watch the sunset together. Three years ago, the last day that I saw her, she was wearing something different. She wore a skirt that day, and some black flats too. She wore a normal school girl's shirt, but she still looked a bit more beautiful than usual.

Something shifted out of the corner of my eye and I lost my train of thought. I looked back to see a raven haired girl sliding down the slope. She looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. She looked up at me just long enough to misplace her footing and trip over a little divot in the grass. Thinking fast, I wasn't about to let this poor girl get a face full of mud, where ever she was going, and whoever she was.

I jumped up from my perch on the railing and ran towards the girl. Before I could register, the girl rested in my arms. She even smells familiar… "Whoa," I shifted her upwards into a standing position. "You know kid, that was a close o-" I stopped mid-sentence as she looked me in the eye.

"K-karin!" The girl shrugged me off and spun around to face me.

"Thanks," she said hesitantly. "You look… taller." It was true. I was a whole head taller than she was. Something inside of me said, YES! But something else inside of me cracked. I had always enjoyed being shorter than her, but apparently, she wasn't going to be very tall, so I made up my mind to get used to it.

I looked at her harder, taking in every detail. Her once grey eyes had turned a light shade of violet, her once short hair was now down to the small of her back and up in a pony-tail. She was wearing a blue jacket and some skinny jeans, and if I was correct, she was wearing a hint of makeup.

Karin's POV:

He stood there for a moment, looking at me up, and then down, up and then down, making me feel abnormally uncomfortable. I looked him over too. He was so much taller than I was, his eyes were a new color, a deeper color, a warmer color. They were a darker green, but they still had the same brilliant glow about them. The thing that shocked me the most was that his hair was no longer gravity-defying. It was more of a relaxed style, where his hair shifted to the right over his eyebrows.

"What, are you just going to look at me you pervert?" I gave him a dangerous glare. "because I can still beat the crap outta' you if you encourage me." I said, taking a step towards him. He jumped back in surprise and then frowned. I stood there for a moment and waited for him to respond. Usually, he responded with something witty and stupid that would get him a punch or something, but this time, he was silent. "what the hell old man? Why are you so freakin' quiet?"

He looked at me and smiled. "sorry, did that bother you?" He didn't say it sarcastically, like he normally did, but he said it sincerely. I punched him in the arm.

"Hell yeah it did! I didn't come here to stare at you, and let you stare at me." He rubbed his shoulder and smiled again.

Toshiro POV:

Ouch, that hurt. I rubbed my arm. She may look more like a girl, but she's still got one hell of a punch.

"Karin, you look so different," I said, lost for words.

"What of it? Do you hate it?" she said, not sounding sure of her aggressive tone.

"Hate it?" I raised my arms innocently, trying to lift her mood and bring things back to the way they were three years ago. "No, no, no. I can't hate it, I was just thinking about how…" I stopped, searching for the right words. Beautiful. I wanted to blurt the word out to her face, let her know what I was really thinking.

"Well?" She said, squinting her eyes.

"…grown-up you look." I looked at her face. She registered what I said and her face softened a little. "C'mon and sit over here Karin," I said, motioning to the railing. "We can talk over there." I followed up behind her. When we reached the railing, I grabbed Karin by the waist to try to lift her onto the railing. She was unusually light for being her age. She slapped me away.

"Hey, hands off me!" She said, looking back at me. I pulled my arms away and gave her an apologetic look while she returned it with a furious, teenage girl kind of glare. She climbed up onto the railing and sat down, settling herself so that her feet overlapped with the second metal bar from the ground and her thighs rested on the top bar. I sat next to her.

"So, what did you notice was different about me?" I asked, feeling slightly self- orientated.

"Everything." She said bluntly. She looked down at her shoes. "Your hair, it's different."

"Okay, well, did anything change while I was gone?" aw crap… wrong words.

She glared at me from the corner of her eye. "Yeah, actually." She didn't seem to finish her sentence the way I heard it. We sat in awkward silence and watched the sun go down over the small town. I decided it was best to break the silence.

"Karin," I said, scooting closer to her. "Are you angry with me for leaving you?" She looked over at me, her forehead bumping into mine, _that's how close we were_. I groaned and held my head.

"Well, it isn't all sunshine when your best friend just picks up and leaves without them telling you." She said, rubbing her forehead. "Why?" she didn't sound as aggressive as she did a few minutes ago. I figured that was a good sign.

"Just because, you've been giving me the cold shoulder," She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry it seems that way, but sometimes, leaving your best friend behind without any means of contacting them can leave a hole in their heart." She looked at me. "Toshiro Hitsugaya," Her tone was harsh, but I wasn't expecting what she was going to say at all. "I missed you so much, dammit."

"You still have your foul mouth, that's for sure." I said, captivating her beautiful face as I thought about holding her hand in mine, something I had planned to do long before I had left for the winter war, but no matter how inviting her hand was next to mine, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

**Thanx Everyone! The next chapter will be coming out in three days! XD**

** -XHitsuKarinX316X**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Thank you all for reading my fanfictions! Thank you for adding my story into your favorites and reviewing! I appreciate it! Keep reviewing please! I would love to hear more of your suggestions and opinions on my fan fictions! **

** -XHitsuKarinX316X**

Toshiro POV:

We sat and talked for a while. She seemed to be warming up to me little by little again. She explained to me how much it hurt her when I left without telling her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I looked at her staring her straight in the face.

"Because I-I…" because I love you… "because I didn't to see you." The minute the words left my mouth I wanted to take them back. It sounded okay in my head, but out in the open like that, it could get you a slap in the face.

"What?" Karin's eyes grew wide. "You didn't want to see me? So, coming to the park was a mistake, right?"

"No, Karin…-" I paused. "Karin, I meant to say…-" She cut me off by jumping off the railing. She turned around to leave.

"When you actually want to see me, you know where I'll be." I grabbed her by the wrist. She yanked me forwards. I went barreling into her. I fell on top of her torso, my head landing on her collar bone. I scrambled away from her after we hit the ground, and sat up.

"Karin, I meant to say that I loved you?" It came out more in the form of a question, but my intentions were good enough. A blush hit my cheeks like a tidal wave. I looked down at my hands, which were fiddling with the corner of my T-shirt. I heard Karin sit down next to me. Karin took one of my shaking hands in her own cool hand.

"Y-you mean that, right?" she asked, uncertainty tainting her tone. I looked her in the eyes to show my sincerity.

"Yes, of course. I've always loved you." Karin blushed harder than I did.

Karin's POV:

My heart raced. He said that he loved me. "Why did you say you didn't want to see me?"

His grip on my hand tightened. "I didn't want to say goodbye. I knew that I would be gone for a long time. I was hoping that if I didn't say goodbye, I wouldn't think about you as much, but I was wrong. I thought about you every second of every day." What he said was convincing. "Karin,"

"Yeah?" I asked, holding his hand in my lap.

"Do you love me back?" I blushed. I knew it took a lot of nerve for him to say that. I wanted to say yes, but at the same time, I didn't want to. I thought that he would judge me somehow if I said I did. I battled with myself for a few seconds, should I, or should I not say that I love him back? I couldn't say it in words, no matter how much I wanted to. I thought that actions would be more of an effect, that maybe words were just too small for how big my love for him really was.

"Does this answer your question?" I said, leaning in towards his chin. I closed my eyes, and our lips met for a moment. My face felt like it could light a candle it was so hot. I pulled away, sparks seeming to leap from the small distance between us. I separated myself even further from him and looked at his eyes, gauging his reaction. His eyes were not surprised, they were soft. His expression was indecipherable except for a small smile that turned up the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah, it does." He said. He leaned back on his free hand. "what do we do now?" I glared at him.

"Are you going to make me regret kissing you?" Toshiro flushed.

"I-I, no, I mean-"

"Nevermind, I have to go. It's almost sunset." I said, standing up. The awkward wet spot on my pants made me cringe. I took off my hoodie and tied it around my waist, covering up the embarrassing damp spot.

"Wait, can I go with you?" he asked, standing up as well. I thought it over. My dad wouldn't be home for a while, and Ichigo wouldn't care. Yuzu wouldn't be surprised, and anyone else lingering in my house would just have to deal with the shock of me and Toshiro "being one".

"Fine, whatever." I said, waving my hand forwards, beckoning for him to follow. "Yuzu is probably finished with dinner by now." He stood up and we walked hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, ankle to ankle. It felt so good to finally express my love towards Toshiro. I didn't have the heavy feeling of not being able to express myself to anyone who accused me of having a thing for Toshiro.

**Thank you all for reading. I think this is the end of this fanfiction! I know it may be a bit short and a bit too, um…. To the point. Tell me if I need to add an extra chapter. I'll give about a week's time for some cushion room. **

**P.S. don't get judge me about the sudden short chapter. I've been busy… **

**Thanx Guyz,**

**-XHitsuKarinX316X**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay! I guess that wasn't the end of the story. People started to complain to me that the ending was too rushed, and I agree with them. :) So please enjoy. I have NO idea when the last chapter will be, (probably in a month… I'm so behind on fanfics, it's not even funny…) Anyway, thanks for reading!**

Karin's POV:

I wished I had never gone back to the house. Everyone went chaotic the minute Toshiro and I walked in the door, hand in hand. It was like they had never seen people hold hands. To make matters worse, it seemed like the whole world was in our living room. Toshiro's Luietenant, Matsumotto sat on the couch drinking a soda. Ichigo stood in the corner with his arms folded across his chest. He wouldn't take his eyes off of Toshiro and I. Renji, Rukia, Inoue, Chad, Uryu, Urahara, Jinta, my dad, Yuzu, and Tessai were all piled into our "useful for anything large audiences" house.

"How long have you two been together, captain?" asked Matsumotto, smiling. Toshiro didn't say a word. He couldn't stop blushing, in fact. "I haven't seen him this sheepish since the first time he'd ever kissed a girl! Which was… never." Toshiro's head snapped up so hard that he grunted in pain and then rubbed the back of his neck.

"Toshiro has _never_ kissed a girl before?" Asked Rukia, hiding a laugh behind her dainty hand. Toshiro didn't defend himself, he didn't even admit that he had kissed me.

"Wow. You've been alive for 140 years man, do something useful with it." Renji said.

"Renji, how many girls have you kissed?" asked Rukia, smiling slyly. Renji's face paled, and then turned as red as his fiery hair.

"A-a lot." He said sheepishly. "You know, just different people and all. That you wouldn't happen to know…" Everyone laughed out loud. At least no one was focusing on us anymore.

"C'mon, let's go while everyone's distracted." I said, leading Toshiro up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" he asked, rather loud.

"SHHH! We're trying to _sneak_ away, remember?" I barked. I turned a corner to my room and then shut the door behind us. I could hear the murmurs of confusion as everyone realized we had left. "I think we're going to be alone for a while. Everyone knows better than to come into my room uninvited."

Toshiro's POV:

_Uninvited? What does she do to them if they don't get an invitation?_ I thought. "What are we supposed to do up here?"

"You've never dated before, have you?" I was cowering under Karin's accusing statement, but it was true. I had never dated a girl in my life. This was my first girlfriend. "Come on, we're a couple now, we have to be completely honest with each other." If this is what boyfriends and girlfriends do, what did I get myself into? I can't get my feelings for Karin wrong though. I love her, there's no doubt about it. I never stopped thinking about her, even while I battled. The only thing that kept me going was being able to see Karin's face after the war was over. I never showed it in fear that someone would discover my little crush on the mortal girl.

"It's never crossed my mind, actually. I guess you could say I was in love with my rank for a while. I didn't feel the need for a relationship at that point, but a war can change your heart. I realized that in the war, the only reason we won it was because everyone worked together, even the opposing forces. So I decided that maybe someone to love might be a better idea than working alone." I said. If I was going to come clean with her, I might as well tell her everything.

"Wow… I didn't expect that to come out of you, Mr. Serious." Karin said.

"Hey! You told me to be honest with you!" I cried. Karin giggled.

"I'm just kidding. Do you really take everything so seriously?" She gave a small sigh.

"Maybe it's about time you start thinking about different things, anything at all, other than your job as a captain." She whispered. I gave her a half-hearted smile.

"But, I've thought about you. Doesn't that count?" This whole relationship thing was really new to me. I was actually nervous. "I even told you, I'm nothing without you."

Karin blushed intensely. She cast her eyes downwards at her hands. "Did I tell you that I loved you?" she asked, giving me a glance with her beautiful eyes.

"Yes." I said gently. "You showed me, actually, but yes."

"Can I show you again?" I smiled.

"Sure." We leaned into each other. Her lips met mine, and it seemed that everything in the world suddenly melted away. For the first time in a while, nothing about my ranking raced through my head. I wasn't worried about Matsumotto not meeting the quota for paperwork, I wasn't worried about training, I wasn't worried about hollows. I was perfectly relaxed.

Karin's POV:

It was exhilarating even the second time, kissing him. I loved the way his lips felt on mine, the way he breathed on my cheek, the way he smelled. Everything about him seemed the same from those few years ago, yet, he seemed so different as well. He put his hand behind my ear, and I cupped his cheek with my hand. I could feel my heart beating in time with his and could feel every movement he made.

A muffled "Stop!" came from the left side of the room. Toshiro and I pulled away from each other quickly, a little too quickly.

"Ouch! You bit my lip!" Toshiro cried, wincing. I could see a small bubble of blood beginning to form on his bottom lip.

"Sorry." I said apologetically. I looked over to see Ichigo peering into the window. "It's Ichigo."

"Waf ee oing ere?" Toshiro said over his thumb.

"Spying on us." I slid the window open. "What are you doing? I thought I told you not to come in my room."

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm not in your room." Ichigo said, peering down. "I saved you though."

"Saved me from what?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air and letting them drop to my sides again in agitation.

"Toshiro was trying to eat your face." He said bluntly. He wasn't joking. I could tell that he was completely serious about it.

"He wasn't eating my face." I growled. That was Ichigo's indication to stop. But did he? Nope.

**Okay everyone. I'm sorry about this chapter. It turned out to be more of a sillier one, with a little less emotion. It was more of a filler chapter. I'm updating all of my stories, that's why. :) Anyway. PLEASE review. I sound desperate, don't I? Well, to tell you the truth, I AM! I need reviews so I know if I need to update again or not, and if I need to change anything, or if it's just right. :) By the way, I know everyone, short chapters, in fact, I read over them, and they're so short it's kind of sad. Sorry, I'll try harder in the next chapters to make them longer. :)**

**Thanx guyz,**

** -XHitsuKarinX316X**


End file.
